{"id":2039035,"date":"2026-07-11T17:27:04","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T14:27:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2039035"},"modified":"2026-07-11T17:27:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T14:27:04","slug":"visma-keeps-talking-tough-after-another-tadej-pogacar-tour-de-france-demolition-it-has-no-other-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2039035","title":{"rendered":"Visma Keeps Talking Tough After Another Tadej Poga\u010dar Tour de France Demolition. It Has No Other Choice."},"content":{"rendered":"

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Andrew Hood<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Updated July 11, 2026 11:31AM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Despite headlines proclaiming that this Tour de France is over, no one\u2019s waving the white flag at Visma-Lease a Bike.<\/p>\n

The mood around the Visma bus was lighter than what you might expect after Jonas Vingegaard received a drubbing at the hands of Tadej Poga\u010dar in the Pyr\u00e9n\u00e9es.<\/p>\n

Ahead of Saturday\u2019s sprint stage, riders were smiling and staffers kept the mood loose.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I would throw in the towel like that I would not be a good DS,\u201d Visma sport director Marc Reef said. \u201cWe will look for every chance all the way to Paris.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, that\u2019s what he has to say.<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar blew the race apart on the Col du Tourmalet on Thursday, and two days later, everyone is still trying to make sense of the wreckage.<\/p>\n

The Slovenian put 2:38 into Vingegaard on the Tour\u2019s first major mountain stage. That was already more than half of his entire winning margin from last year\u2019s Tour.<\/p>\n

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With UAE Emirates-XRG packing firepower, including third-placed Isaac del Toro, clawing back that deficit won\u2019t be easy for Visma or anyone else.<\/p>\n

Yet with two full weeks left, the Dutch team insists this Tour is far from over.<\/p>\n

Believing the Alps will favor Vingegaard<\/h2>\n
\"Jonas
Vingegaard is consoled by Vilsma after losing nearly three minutes in stage 6 to Poga\u010dar. (Photo: Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Things can change fast in the Tour de France.<\/p>\n

Less than a week ago, Visma was celebrating yellow in Barcelona and believing everything was possible.<\/p>\n

Now that Poga\u010dar has grabbed the race by the throat, Vingegaard is back chasing his wheel again.<\/p>\n

Reef said Vingegaard\u2019s power numbers did not reveal a broken rider.<\/p>\n

Reef pointed out that Vingegaard was only about 30 seconds behind Poga\u010dar at the top of the Tourmalet before the elastic snapped.<\/p>\n

Clutching at straws? Maybe, but the team isn\u2019t going to give up after only one summit finale.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Tour is still two weeks. We have a lot to fight for,\u201d Reef said. \u201cIt\u2019s \u2018only\u2019 2:40, he lost it in one day and we can gain it in one day. That\u2019s something we believe in.\u201d<\/p>\n

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That\u2019s good for the sound bites for the journalist mob, but doing it on the road is something else.<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar hasn\u2019t lost time to a direct GC Tour rival since his defeats to Vingegaard in 2022 and 2023. Since then, he\u2019s been almost untouchable.<\/p>\n

Colorado climber Sepp Kuss said Visma\u2019s best option is to stay patient and wait for the right opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can never say it\u2019s over until the bitter end,\u201d Kuss told Velo<\/em>. \u201cThe biggest stages are still to come. You don\u2019t want that kind of deficit but we can hope for a big moment at some point. That\u2019s what we\u2019re focused on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Visma\u2019s plan Thursday to slip a teammate into the break so Vingegaard would have support later in the stage backfired.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the role Wout van Aert played so heroically in the past, but the Belgian is watching this Tour from home.<\/p>\n

UAE shut down the early moves, drilled the pace on the Tourmalet, and rolled out the red carpet for Poga\u010dar\u2019s attack.<\/p>\n

Hope springs eternal at the Tour de France<\/h2>\n
\"Sepp
Kuss celebrates the Visma team victory in Barcelona and was the best-placed in the Pyr\u00e9n\u00e9es.<\/span> (Photo: JASPER JACOBS \/ BELGA MAG \/ Belga \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Vingegaard looked beaten at the line at Gavarnie on Thursday, but the team has since rallied around its leader.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s not so demoralizing, because everyone knows how strong Poga\u010dar is and he is the big favorite for the Tour,\u201d Kuss said. \u201cWe just have to focus on the fact that Jonas was not right there with him, but he was decently close.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Jonas there are better stages coming and the Tour\u2019s second half will suit him better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kuss believes this back-loaded Tour route still offers opportunities for a reversal of fortune.<\/p>\n

Visma continues to search for the cracks that Poga\u010dar has sometimes shown late in previous Tours.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see how strong UAE is, with two guys, with Poga\u010dar and Del Toro, and there are not many guys who can follow them,\u201d Kuss said. \u201cIt\u2019s more about being creative to use our strength. You have to think outside the box a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Visma arrived in Barcelona convinced Vingegaard \u2014 fresh off his Giro d\u2019Italia victory \u2014 finally had the form to match, and perhaps even beat, Poga\u010dar.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s defeat was a brutal reality check few inside the team expected to see.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOur strategy hasn\u2019t changed and the big stages where the big differences are going to be made are still coming,\u201d Reef said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most important thing is that we stay calm, we keep the spirit high, and that we fight for every second.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, Poga\u010dar could crash, fall ill, or simply have a bad day.<\/p>\n

The Killer Bees insist they\u2019re still packing plenty of sting.<\/p>\n

They better hope so.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Andrew Hood<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Updated July 11, 2026 11:31AM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/tour-de-france\/visma-keeps-talking-tough-tadej-pogacar-tour-de-france-demolition\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2285618346.jpg”] Andrew Hood Updated July 11, 2026 11:31AM Despite headlines proclaiming that this Tour de France is over, no one\u2019s waving the white flag at Visma-Lease a Bike. The mood around the Visma bus was lighter than what you might expect after Jonas Vingegaard received a drubbing at the hands of Tadej Poga\u010dar […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-2039035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2039035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039035\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2039035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2039035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2039035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}